"frogs" news and stories

When I was a little kid, my parents were really serious about introducing me to delicacies. Some, like sushi, evoked excitement, energy, and a lifelong passion. Others, like rumaki, evoked hatred, distrust, and a tendency to carefully sniff everything that my mother put in front of me. Frog legs, on the other hand, were decidedly meh. It wasn't that I disliked them, but they weren't all that impressively different or exciting. The Muppet Movie, with the dastardly Doc Hopper, pushed me over the edge into active avoidance. I decided that my indifference, combined with the high price of the precious legs, meant that I should spend my money elsewhere.

A little while ago, however, I learned that frogs are, apparently, dying in droves. Whether the cause is interspecies warfare, bacteria, habitat destruction, or any of a host of other suspects, the conclusion is the same: the price of frogs legs is skyrocketing. Today, in fact, most frogs legs come from China or India, where they are factory farmed. The best legs, however, seem to be produced by Ken Holyoak, a frog farmer from Brunswick, Georgia. By creating what amounts to a frog free-range habitat, Holyoak has found a way to produce frogs in quantity while avoiding some of the pitfalls that lead some restaurateurs to describe Chinese frogs as having a "muddy" flavor and "dark" meat.

While I don't think that I'll ever be a huge fan of frogs legs -- at least not while there is still alligator meat to be had -- it's nice to know that a combination of creativity, hard work, and eccentricity is keeping them on the table!

It's Leap Day, and zoos and animal organizations across the world are kicking off "Year of the Frog," which aims to highlight the impact of global warming and pollution on our amphibian friends. In honor of the cause, here's a rundown of some notable frog-themed foods (though nothing containing actual frog, that seemed a bit crass):

Freddo Frog - An Australian treat since the 1930s, this chocolate cartoon frog is made by Cadbury and comes in different flavors and fillings. Weird note: I bought an aquatic frog from the pet store when I was seventeen and named him Freddo, with no knowledge of the Australian candy connection. Guess it's just a good name for a frog. Freddo's still alive.

Haribo Frogs - the white, marshmallowy underbellies are my favorite part of these lime-flavored German gummies.

Frogaroni - frog-shaped pasta, in regular and spinach green.

Frog Cake - Little sponge cakes coated in fondant and decorated with froggy features are a specialty of the South Australian city of Adelaide.

Any other favorites?

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Marzipan is a confection with a long history, as it is one of the oldest sweets that is still in the repertoire of modern pastry-makers. Even if you really love marzipan, you're probably not going to want to shell out $32 for this set of three adorably sculpted marzipan frogs from Dean and Deluca. If your Valentine loves marzipan on the other hand, you may want to rethink that position. This hand-sculpted set would make an awfully cute - and tasty - gift for a marzipan-loving significant other.

Available from Dean and Deluca, the amphibious trio weighs in at just 1.5-ounces. They were carefully crafted by Rebecca Russell, an award-winning New York based pastry artist who specializes in creating miniature figurines for wedding cakes, displays and, as in this case, gifts.

They will be hard to eat - not because the sugary almond paste itself is so hard, but simply because they are so cute!

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